The Coven Holds On
by SamCyberCat
Summary: Even if they couldn't meet up as much as they used to, it was still important to Kisumi, Rin and Sousuke to have some time together. Sano Trio.


**Notes:** Written for Kisumi Day 2016. Set a year or so post-ES. Just some Sano Trio for the soul.

* * *

They didn't get many days like this any more. But that was just life, wasn't it? You grow up, get all this responsibility constantly added to your towering pile of responsibilities, then look back and wonder where all your free time went. No one wanted it to be the case, but that was just how it was and they had to go along with it.

All in all, they were at least lucky in that their friendship had endured the time and distance. None of them could ask for more than that. Even though they couldn't see each other as much these days, they always made time for it when they could.

Kisumi saw Sousuke a lot more often than he saw Rin, since they lived closer to each other. But it never felt quite the same when it wasn't the three of them, so it was always special when Rin came back. It meant a lot to Sousuke, so Kisumi knew that sometimes it needed to be just the two of them. But heck, it meant a lot to him as well, so he'd never let Rin get away without them all getting together at least once.

Today was that day.

There wasn't much time left. Rin's training had shifted up yet another notch as the Olympics grew closer. He'd made it clear that this might be the last time that he'd be back in Iwatobi before it happened. Everyone else had made it clear that they'd be there when it did happen. No one wanted to miss what Rin had worked so hard for.

On the first day that Rin had come back, it had been Gou and Sousuke who'd gone to see him, which had made sense. The second day had been Haru and Makoto. The third day was everyone. But today, the last day, it was Kisumi and Sousuke. They'd be the old trio once again.

They'd gone out of town, walked for miles amongst the trees and the grass as Kisumi and Rin had chatted aimlessly. Sousuke didn't say much, but he was happy enough just to listen to the other two. They were all at peace.

What Kisumi talked about with Rin seemed like nothing in particular on the surface, but underneath it was both of them subtly making sure that everything was all right, with themselves, with each other and with all of their friends. Rin could rely on Kisumi to keep an eye out while he was away. But there was no one to keep an eye on Rin and talking like this was him getting it out in the open that everything was okay. There was no reason for the others to worry about him, even though they would do anyway.

Eventually they did stop though. It wasn't clear who had whined about wanting food first, but the fact of the matter was that they were all hungry. So they found a patch of grass that wasn't too damp from the morning rain, lay down a towel and took out what they'd brought. Rin and Sousuke were both happy to scoff pork sandwiches, which didn't surprise Kisumi in the least. In many ways they hadn't changed at all from when they were kids.

After he'd finished what he was eating, Kisumi kicked off his shoes and let his feet lie gently on the grass. Sousuke gave him an odd look and said he would have to walk back with wet feet now, but Kisumi just laughed and said that he didn't care.

He looked up into the sky, pale blue and cloudy, but otherwise the perfect day for this.

"So the next time we all meet up, Rin will be a champion," he said.

"You know it!" Rin cheered.

"Do you think it'll be different after that?" Kisumi asked.

"What do you mean?" said Sousuke, after he'd swallowed a bite of his sandwich.

Kisumi turned his attention away from the sky and back towards the other two; "After the Olympics. What's going to happen then?"

"It doesn't stop after that," Rin explained, "I'll still need to work hard and keep going. My career rests on when I'm at my physical peak, which is right now. So I'll probably still be in Australia, even after the Olympics are over."

It was a downer. Right away Kisumi noticed that Sousuke's expression seemed to glaze over and not in a good way. But it needed to be said. They needed this out in the open so they all knew where they stood.

"We'll have to come visit you over there sometime then, instead of you always coming back here," Kisumi said. He hoped that would make it all seem a bit better for Sousuke.

"Yeah, you should," Rin replied, "You'll both like it over there. It's so ridiculously hot, the food's great, the guys are pretty and half the animals can kill you."

"Sounds like my kind of holiday," Kisumi chuckled.

They were quiet for a while after that. Long enough for Kisumi to think that the tense moment focused on Rin not coming back to Iwatobi for good had passed. But it turned out he was wrong about that. Sousuke shifted on the towel and quietly cleared his throat. Both of the other two looked over at him.

"What happens when it's all over then?" he said.

"It won't be over. I have to keep on going," Rin reminded him.

"You said yourself that this is all focused around when you're at your physical peak. That won't be forever," Sousuke argued. They both caught the brief glance he made towards shoulder, though he probably didn't mean for them to.

"Don't ask me about that. I can't think that far ahead," said Rin, "Who even knows what's going to happen that far in the future?"

"I know one thing for sure," Kisumi said. He got to his feet and walked over to them both, then crouched down and slung an arm around each of them, pulling them into a loose hug; "We'll still be doing this in years to come. No matter what happens, we'll all still be those three idiots, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Sousuke mumbled.

"Nothing'll ever change that," Rin agreed.

"Imagine it," Kisumi went on, "We'll be grouchy old men and we'll still be meeting up together to say how much better things were in the good old days."

Rin snorted, "Sousuke would be the worst grumpy old man."

"I would not!" Sousuke protested. He put on a mock frown, but couldn't hold it. The good mood had been restored too much now.

They laughed and joked about that and dozens of other things, until their conversations were as far away from the uncertain future as they could be. Deep down they all knew that the worries weren't gone, but for now they didn't have to think about them. After all, that was exactly what these precious days were all about – just being together for a while and forgetting about everything else. If they could keep going with that forever then all three of them would be content.


End file.
